Foucault, Neoliberalism, and Equality

• Published in: Critical inquiry Vol. 48; no. 1; p. 23
• Main Author: Tiisala, Tuomo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago University of Chicago, acting through its Press 01.09.2021
• Subjects: Economics; Foucault, Michel; Neoliberalism; Politics
• ISSN: 0093-1896; 1539-7858
• DOI: 10.1086/715986

The charge is familiar by now. Michel Foucault's uncritical engagement with neoliberalism, revealed by his posthumously published 1979 lecture course, shows not only that Foucault is an inept ally for progressive politics today but also confirms the suspicion that a strategic allegiance lay hidden between his work and the agenda of neoliberalism. As readers of the lectures know, however, the notion of neoliberalism is complicated. Foucault's analysis highlights the decisive theoretical and political differences between American neoliberalism developed by the Chicago School on the one hand and the German neoliberalism of the Ordoliberals on the other, which respectively constitute two distinct paths of "programming anew the liberal rationality of governing" in the twentieth century. The latter, which continues to define the policy playbook of the European Union, for instance, embeds the economic market in a framework of political institutions, including a commitment to substantial welfare policies, all understood as necessary social preconditions for a well-functioning market.